What a great story. Thanks for that. It was fun to read. I didn't know there was such a breed as a long-haired German Shepard. What a great looking dog. There's little more enjoyable in the domestic animal world than a beautiful, polite and well-trained dog. Good for you for giving her the gift of training as she's now part of the community. The photo is great. I agree...it is suitable for framing.

Gussi the Diva
 

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*** Hope this uploads.
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*** Tuxedo - abandoned on my street when only fist size.
*** We have been together 11 l/2 years now.
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Mermaid, so very sorry. It is so hard, loosing a member of the family. We have an almost 19 siamese and had to have h er mate put down over a year ago at 17. Raise dogs and have lost dogs and pup sometimes too and I cry every time, no grand kids within 1500 miles so animals fill up my heart, Love every one of them. Have Golden pups due the 11 Feb. and 5 Rat Terrier babies here now, one goes today.[ATTACH=CONFIG]502230[/ATTACH]
They keep me busy and take up what little quilting space I have, but love them and enjoy the baby part.

I am down to 1 kitty now as just had to put my male tuxedo down in May as he had the cat's version of AIDS. Never knew they could get it but he did some how. Since then I started collecting photos of my past pets/buddies and made up a family portrait (family tree) and placed it in the dining room for all to see. Here are some of those I've loved and lost.....

1st is Charlie, I found him all torn up and beaten on the side of the road. He had part of his bottom jaw missing when I found him.

Next came Mitzi, I found her in the newspaper. Seems she didn't get along with the new puppy so they were getting rid of her or else put her down. Her and Charlie got along great to the point that when she died, Charlie had a broken heart and died a couple months later.

Next came the Boys as I called them. A mixed Scotty/Corgi I found at the pound, 13 years old then, my little man as he just loved to be petted and never made a fuss. My shepherd I found in the newspaper, 150 pound baby. He was obedience trained and my protector. I traveled with both my boys from Florida to Nebraska to visit my family. They got to see snow for the 1st time one Fall and loved it. The next summer I had to put them both down. The little guy was 19 and the big guy was 13. I've never replaced them ever.

Next came Miss Boo Baby, my Himalayan I got from a case I worked with the police dept. She came just a couple months before I had to put the boys down. She died a tragic death from 2 dogs that got loose in the neighborhood. She was my lap baby and loved to ride in the car as her and Skooter went with me when I visited my beau.

Next came Skooter a peach faced parrot with a twisted body and beak. He was such a treat to care for. He couldn't walk or hold on to much but he could fly. He would meet me in the PC room when I came home every morning and opened his cage. He would sit on my lap for hours and then I'd put him in his cage outside to enjoy the other birds.

My neighbor left his cat behind, Stella. Boy doesn't she have a mean look on her face but she moved up to Iowa with me from Florida.

Then came Pepper, she came from the pound in Iowa, left on the road at 9 months old. She is still with me today and now my lap kitty.

Loved Pepper so much that I got her a buddy from the Vet, Max, a Hemingway kitty with extra toes. He's the one that acquired AIDS and had to be put down. Its contagious and after having Pepper checked for it and came out negative, I had to protect her. Max by that time was in pain and failing fast.

Last by not least a photo of a kitty my beau at the time found on the side of the highway in Florida just after Miss Boo Baby died. And of course her name is Highway. Just 6-7 weeks old at the time and now 9 years old and 15 pounds. Runs the roost at his place of 10 acres. Here is a photo of her and Skooter. Skooter is not afraid of anything as you can see from the pic. She's just about ready to bite Highway's toes. Highway had been attacking her playfully every morning and she decided to turn the tables on her.

My photos may be out of order of the summary but I'm sure you get the jest of it.

Pets have a way to bring love into your family and leave a mark on your heart. I loved all my pets and remember them fondly every time I walk by my Family Album.

Awesome!!!!!

My fur kids in order of age -
1. Miss kitty is our youngest fur kid, a little tiny former feral tabby kitten we adopted through a local rescue. She is a little thing, but keeps the others on their toes by sneaking up and whacking the others and running like crazy to get under something before they catch her. She is devoted to DH and will not sleep anywhere but on 'dad' at night. Her favorite activity...playing "zippy cat"
2. Greda is a stubby blue austrailian cattle dog (Blue Heeler) who was taken from an abusive SOB, who so terrorized her that it took me weeks to walk normally near us instead of belly crawling in terror. She will be a treasured friend for life to make sure she remembers that humans can be a good thing. She is the most gentle soul I have ever dealt with. Too bad she had to have such a horrible start in life. Anything that even sound violent can set her to shaking, so we have to be careful what DH watches on TV, because of Greda.
3. The biggest fur kid. Yukon King. He was taken into foster care after his previous owner broke his nose in front of a deputy sheriff, owner went to jail and that is when King and I met. The vet says he is German Shepard, Malamute, Husky, and at least a little wolf since her has white teeth. (Full blood dogs have yellow teeth.) after adopting him, he earned his keep but alerting me to impending seizures. He is ten this year, and bothered by arthritis and a back injury from falling out of our van and landing on his tail. ( He ' missed' while jumping in) King is my first dog and now I can't imagine life without him.
4. Our oldest fur kid is Bruno, my Norwegian Forest cat. I have had Bruno since he was five weeks old since that was his age when he was surrendered for euthanasia because he is a black cat born on 9/11/2001, and the breeder was 'afraid someone would hurt him if they knew when he was born'. He is getting old now, his whiskers are turning white, and his armpits have gone gray. When he was five months old he was sleeping in a sunny window in Texas, and stretched and rolled over and fell out of the window hitting a table edge with his back as he fell. After three days unable to walk, he recovered, but has a ruptured disk in his back, so no one picks up Bruno or he will bite because it hurts. I have to say that I am owned by Bruno. If he wants something, he will walk up into whatever I am doing and start poking me in the arm until I pay attention to the cat. He will take me to whatever in his world is not perfect, such as hair floating in his water dish, or his food dish is no longer heaped and therefore even though he has at least two more cups of food to eat, he feels he is in danger of starving. Lol! Enjoy the pictures of our fur kids doing what comes naturally.

such beautiful pictures of the fur babies. I love my Russian Ble kitty Zoey so very much.
she is the princess of the house, and of course, the house revolves around her.

Nibbs is my avatar. She is a Russian Blue diminished. In other words, a mutt. But she rules the house and is a clown much of the time. Russina blues have such a personality!

Here are some words that I so totally believe and know. This was written by Martin Luther:

"Be thou comforted, little dog. Thou, too, in Resurrection, shall have a little golden tail."

I believe that pertains to all our pets, dogs, cats, birds, you name it. So rest assured. And please to accept my sincere sympathies. Miss Bess is going to be 12 in a few more weeks and I just hug her a little more every day.


Edie

My Bess is going to be 12 years old on January 3. She has had two surgeries for benign tumors on her body - prevalent with Labs, I guess and Bess is a German Short Hair Pointer/Black Lab. The only reason I had them removed is the one was under her armpit and the harness rubbed against it and the other was on her backside. The vet told me that these are fatty type tumors and there is no reason to remove them if they don't get in her way. So, she may have her lumps and bumps, but she's as healthy as a horse - and what I am most proud of is that there is no arthritis showing up. She can jump on the couch, run after a squirrel, jump on the bed, go up and down stairs. My little secret? In the wintertime when it is really cold outside, I have a thermal blanket on the couch. She gets a treat when she comes in and I then cover her up and under that thermal, it is so nice and cozy warm that those muscles and bones and stuff warm up really fast. The vet thought it was a darned good idea too. So, for what it is worth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edie